O LORD, YOUR Mercy Is Before My Eyes

"Prove me, O YAHWEH, put me to the test; examine my soul and my heart.

For YOUR love is ever before my eyes, and I live in truth and faithfulness.

I do not associate with the deceitful nor do I go with hypocrites;

I hate the party of the corrupt and avoid the company of the wicked.

I wash my hands free of guilt and walk in procession round YOUR altar,

singing hymns of praise and thanksgiving and proclaiming YOUR wondrous deeds.

O YAHWEH, I love the house where YOU dwell, the place of YOUR glory.

Let me not share the fate of sinners, nor lose my life with the violent; their hands are guilty of crimes, their right hands are weighed down with bribes.

But I will walk in integrity, redeem me, O GOD, be gracious to me.

My foot stands firm in the straight path, I will praise YOU, O YAHWEH, in YOUR assemblies."

- Psalm 26:2-12

(How can I sing this psalm?  Do I really walk 'along the straight path?'  Surely the psalmist himself is exaggerating.  Dare he challenge GOD's scrutiny?  After all, the psalmist himself asks for mercy: he feels he needs it.  We certainly do.

Paul has an experience, similar to the ones described in the psalm: even if you have a good conscience, that is not enough to justify you [1 Corinthians 4:4].  This psalm is not for one who glories in his own works, but for those who subject themselves to the scrutinizing and purifying regard of GOD, for those who trust GOD.

Let us make our own the prayer of the just that reaffirms his fidelity.  Let us not count on our own merits, like the Pharisee.  Let us rather give thanks for this new person that we have become through baptism: CHRIST has purified and has enriched us.)

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